Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing

Are the places we enjoy reading also the places we enjoy writing?  I have this idyllic image in my head, of a young woman in a long skirt, sitting beneath a green, leafy tree, legs pulled up beneath her, reading a book resting in her lap. There’s a hill of green rising up behind her, white clouds floating across a blue sky (in no particular hurry) and sheep grazing on the hill. Yep – I’ve read/seen too many Jane Austen stories.

But could you write in this idealized space? Probably. As long as the bugs didn’t annoy you too much, the sheep didn’t attempt to eat your paper, and the clouds didn’t turn angry. But who actually “writes” anymore, scribbling words across the page, the pen making that distinct scratching sound? That seems as much of an anachronism as the young lady in the long skirt. Would your laptop work in the green hills?

Where is the best place to read or write? A nice, comfy chair might be just the ticket for a couple of hours of reading, but the same chair, when attempting to write the next great American novel, can lead to extensive yawning and a quick nap to refresh one’s perspective.

I can’t read in moving vehicles, except planes, so I’m pretty sure I couldn’t write, either – I’ve never really tried, though. Writing on planes seems like it would be easy, but a car or bus? Yeah, I’m going to dismiss these locations out-of-hand – not appealing in any way.

Nostalgia of high school and college brings to mind the diners in which we’d set up shop for the night – books, and notebooks, and endless glasses of iced tea and, later, cups of coffee. Old, overstuffed booths with the stuffing creeping from rips in the vinyl and tables sticky from the rag used to “clean” them. And pie. Isolated, kinda, but you can hear the surrounding people, maybe incorporate snippets of random conversation into the story you’re attempting to finish…or start. Too many cigarettes while reading or talking about the line or paragraph you’ve just read. Yeah, I like the diner scene.

Where else can writing and reading be enjoyed equally? Are there books or magazines out there that address the idea of creating spaces specifically for these pursuits? You’ve got libraries and you’ve got offices, but someone, somewhere has to want to reinvent these spaces – right?

-Jenn